The use of restraint systems is now common place, and even mandatory, in a wide variety of vehicles. Aircraft, both fixed wing and rotary, and most types of land vehicles now all use restraints to prevent injury to vehicle occupants. Restraint systems are likewise used in watercraft. These restraint systems typically include lap and shoulder belts that secured to a single tongue plate. The tongue plate, in turn, is releasably secured within a female receptacle of the buckle assembly.
This conventional design, however, is not acceptable in all situations. For instance, sometimes vehicle occupants are wearing heavy or bulky clothing. This situation may occur, for instance, when the occupants are firemen wearing fire retardant clothing, or soldiers wearing body armor. Other situations arise where the occupant may need to release the shoulder belt without also releasing the lap belt. In such cases, the use of conventional restraint systems is simply not possible. Namely, these situations require lap and shoulder belts that can be independently removed and/or adjusted.
An example of a buckle assembly with multiple belt connectors is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,263,750 to Keene. Keene discloses a buckle assembly for a vehicle restraint system where the buckle assembly is adapted to receive a plurality of belt connectors. The belt connectors are simultaneously released upon moving at least one handle to a release position.
Although the inventions of the prior art achieve particular objectives, these inventions also suffer from common drawbacks. These inventions, for instance, do not permit tongue plates to be separately removed so as to permit the independent removal and/or adjustment of lap and shoulder belts. These inventions, likewise, do not provide a buckle wherein a single latching mechanism is used to secure both tongue plates.